Evaluation: This is a fairly long hike, giving you the opportunity to climb to the platform of Xóbourgo and to hike to the wonderful villages of Voláx and Agápi. Most of the trails are simply marvellous. You can have a picnic close to Xóbourgo, but also the restaurant in Voláx is a great spot to sit down for a while. This hike definitely deserves an evaluation of ***.

Estimated time: The total hike takes 4h20 – actual hiking time: 1h40 to the foot of Xóbourgo, about 40 minutes to hike up and down to the kástro, 30 minutes till Falatádos, 35 minutes till Voláx and then another 55 minutes to Agápi. You can shorten this hike considerably by taking a taxi to Xóbourgo (7 € in April 2005). To return from Agápi you have to call a taxi in any case – this will cost you about 10 €.

Route description: When leaving from the town of Tinos or Chora there are two ways to get to the important hiking trail leading to the interior of the island:
- you can either leave from the quay at the old harbour; from the little square with a kind of modern stage in the middle you then take the broad Leofóros Megalocháris, which goes up to the large cathedral of the Panagía Evangelístria. You thus follow this street upwards.

- you can also leave from the modern harbour and then you will enter Chóra via the Leofóros Stavroú - Kioníoon. In this case you arrive at a first little square with palm trees and a playground. If you go straight ahead in the left-hand corner, you reach a second little square with a fountain + dolphin. Over here a narrow street leads straight ahead to the third square, at the foot of the Leofóros Megalocháris, where you can go up on the left. However, maybe you did already see the small blue sign in the corner of the first square. The text on this sign says Xóbourgo - Falatádos - Liváda / Fáros and you can follow this sign by taking a left into the Odós Theológos Afentoúli. Later on this street becomes the Odós Nikoláou and after some 4 minutes you get to a sign pointing to the Evangelístria on the right.

[If you want to you can first visit the church, but it might be a better idea to postpone this visit to a more relaxed day! If you departed via the broad Megalocháris-lane, you have to take a left on the last crossing before the large church: over here you can also find a blue sign pointing to Xóbourgo and Falatádos. In this way you get to the Odós Nikoláou as well.]

The Panagía Evangelístria.

From the Odós Nikoláou you go straight ahead into the Odós Várvaras; this staircase-street continues for about 5 minutes, leaving the town behind, and then it turns into a paved road. After another 2-3 minutes you cross the asphalt ring road and on the other side you go up on a broad and paved path.

Slightly further down you get to the old paving and you also walk between the traditional walls; remember that this is still the ancient Venetian trail that many centuries ago already connected the harbour and the fortress of Xóbourgo. On your right-hand side you pass a drive with a misleading red arrow – which you ignore, obviously – and further down you also pass a broader gravel road off the right. You continue straight ahead all the time, going up on a marvellous kalderími.

The beautiful old path from Chóra to Tripótamos.

After about 40 minutes you walk on a road coming from the left for a short while. Going straight ahead, though, you get to the old monopati again - which is narrower now - after about 10 metres. You walk underneath a small church and you gradually curve to the right; in this way you get a beautiful view on Chóra, right underneath your trail. After some 50 minutes you thus arrive at the chapel of Agia Xéni – this is a spot well maintained, with lanterns, but it is often very windy over here. You can take some rest on a bench inside the church.

In fact, this place is an important crossing of hiking trails, so it is a spot you might pass a number of more times when hiking on the island of Tinos. On the right there is only a blocked trail; on the left a nice path runs downwards in the direction of Ktikádos and Kámbos; and straight ahead (on the right-hand side of the chapel) the trail continues to Xóbourgo – today, this is the way to continue.

Your trail keeps going up beautifully until you walk underneath a high-voltage cable after some 10 minutes – from here onwards you start to descend gradually. A couple of minutes further down you get to a three-forked junction: your trail continues on the left, over a little bridge; on your right-hand side you notice a nice well. After another 6 minutes the trail leads to the asphalt road, next to some houses of Tripótamos. On the opposite side, on the left, you can see the famous cheese factory or "tirokomío".

On the right of the drive to the factory you can go down on an overgrown path. You can also proceed on the grounds of the factory for a short while and on the right you can then find the old trail again. In any case, you should walk on the left-hand side of a small church and in the direction of the right-hand wind mill. You have to watch out: do not go directly to the right on a vague trail. Instead, you should continue straight ahead, along a small white building. Usually, it is very windy over here – it is no coincidence that wind mills have been built on this place. 
Only one minute further you get to a junction – wooden signs point to Xinára (straight ahead) and to Xóbourgo (to the right). Attention: these signs had disappeared in May 2008... You go right.

The path to Xóbourgo.

The narrow and overgrown trail (once in a while there is also a trail marker [2]) runs more or less horizontally above the village of Xinára, in the direction of the windy gorge, on the right and underneath the impressive rock summit of Xóbourgo. After 10 minutes you get to the left of a chapel, and a large signpost sends you to the left. A couple of more minutes later you already reach the first ruins of the old “city” – over here you should NOT go right on a flat trail, but straight ahead, on the left of a small ruin. You go up a little more, curving on the right of the rock with some more ruins on top. By climbing up all the time you get underneath a white chapel and slightly further down you can already distinguish the large building of the monastery of Ieras Kardías. A path on the left leads to the small church – this is a pleasant, though rather early picnic spot, not only because of the great panoramic view, but also because you can sit out of the wind.
The landscape is green and grand, with a view on Falatádos in front of you towards the left, and on Chóra on the right. The islands located in front of you are: on the left the island of Mýkonos with the smaller islands of Dílos and Rhínia, and further to the right first the island of Náxos and then Páros.

From the little church you walk back to the main trail, which you follow to the left. Just before you reach the two large churches, you find a sign on the left, pointing towards the Kástro – you are now at an altitude of 440 metres. After about 3 minutes you already walk through some remains of ruins and after 8 minutes you arrive at the actual Venetian remnants of the kástro. At this place, though, also remains of much older buildings have been found, such as the remnants of the ancient city of Tínos, founded at about 1000 BC. During the excavations, some geometrical and archaic statuettes have also been discovered.

View to the summit of Xóbourgo.

You now continue to the catholic monastery of the Holy Heart (Ieras Kardías); you walk on the right-hand side of the wall, and then you do not go straight ahead, but you take a left – a blue sign points in the direction of Falatádos. You follow the meandering concrete road until you arrive at a stable with a flat roof after a couple of minutes. On the left of the stable you find the beginning of two trails: the right-hand trail (with a small blue signpost) is your trail that leads to Falatádos; the left-hand trail goes to the village of Koumáros (there is a wooden signpost) and then to Loutrá and Kámbos – for this trajectory see the hike Chóra - Xóbourgo - Koumáros - Loutrá - Kámbos - Chóra.

You thus take the right-hand path, you open a small iron gate and in this way you get to an overgrown trail between walls. There are also thistles, so some long trousers come in handy. After about 8 minutes you arrive at an asphalt road; you climb down and you proceed straight ahead on the gravel road in the direction of Falatádos. You follow this rather monotonous road for about 14 minutes – fortunately, the green fields with flowers offer some distraction.

Going to Falatádos, with a view of Xóbourgo.

Some 28 minutes after your departure from the monastery you reach the asphalt road. 

[Straight ahead it would only take you one minute till the church of the hamlet of Kathlikádos and then another 5 minutes to Falatádos itself. The village is quite attractive and the café of Falatádos (underneath the main church) has very tasty tsípouro... After visiting this village, though, you do have to go back the way you came, until you get to the place where the gravel road of Xóbourgo joins the asphalt road.]

Immediately on the left, at the corner of a wall (and underneath the electricity cables), you find a path going to the left. Almost immediately the trail splits and you continue on the lower trail that descends into the valley. Slightly further you keep to the right and in this way you arrive at a beautiful trail between walls. You reach a stable some 4 minutes later and over here you DO NOT go down on the left. Instead, you walk through an iron gate, you go up slightly and in this way you get to another path, which you follow to the left. Later on, you go through another iron gate and then you describe a bend to the left, midst a very rocky landscape. The following 5 minutes are really beautiful: you walk between large boulders and you go down slightly, until you arrive at the picturesque chapel of Theoskepastí.

The chapel of Theoskepastí.

You follow the path further down, you DO NOT go through a low gate to the gravel road, but you keep descending on the rock trail for a couple of more minutes. Finally, you do get to the sandy road, which you follow to the left for about 7 minutes. You then have to watch out: in a bend, near a couple of large trees, you find a path behind an iron gate. Pretty soon, this path goes down into the valley, between the boulders and with the village of Voláx in front of you. About 3 minutes later you have to climb over a low iron gate – not without difficulties. You keep going down between the walls until you get to a sandy road again, which you follow to the right this time. You follow this road upwards for some 5 minutes and then there is a stretch in concrete for another 2 minutes. In this way you easily arrive in Voláx, right at the very nice outdoor terrace of the estiatório I Voláx. Next to this restaurant there is a pergola with oleanders and two stone tables and benches – you can thus decide to either picnic or to eat in the restaurant.

A nice spot in Voláx.

In the village itself you soon get to a picturesque crossing with amongst others two very nice houses with flowers. On the left you notice an arrow to the well (pigí) and the small open air theatre. By walking straight ahead you reach the church and behind the church there is a sandy road running in north-north-western direction, out of the village. You take a left for a short while, on concrete that soon becomes a gravel road. About 3 minutes later you step over an iron gate, which spans the entire width of the road, and after another 6 minutes you do the same again. In a landscape with large boulders the gravel road keeps meandering up and down until you reach a junction in a sharp bend to the left. The main road continues on the left; in about 20 minutes this road could bring you to Skaládos, but this is not our intention today. Instead, you take the narrower gravel road going up on the right. After 4 minutes already you have to watch out: all of a sudden you can see the village of Agápi beautifully situated in front of you and on a large boulder you notice a blue arrow (+ a red number 36...); this arrow sends you on a path to the right.

The following descent into a deep valley is really wonderful; you walk on a shaded and sometimes overgrown trail, with a couple of pigeon towers on your right-hand side. After 9 minutes you arrive at a crossing with a wooden bridge and streaming water on the right, but you continue straight ahead. You go down slightly on a beautiful path and you thus get down in the main valley after another 4-5 minutes, near a pigeon tower and a small building with a little water tower. You continue straight ahead, across a nice arched bridge and then you take a left – you DO NOT go straight ahead up the steps.

The trail goes up gradually, above the marvellous green valley; straight ahead you can see the village of Sklavochorió. After some 7 minutes the trail becomes a small concrete lane and a couple of minutes later you already reach the village of Agápi. You walk underneath a number of different arches and at the end the little street is almost completely vaulted. Over here you find the nice kafenío O Mitsáras on the left – this café has a pleasant outdoor terrace with a great panoramic view; this is a wonderful spot to conclude this hike.

The vaulted street in Agápi.

You now have to call a taxi, but you should make the appointment with the taxi driver at the asphalt road near the church. In order to get there you have to go down the street near the café until you get to the platía Agapítou Filipoússi, with the small town hall and a beautiful wash place with lots of streaming water beyond. You curve to the left, to the other part of Agápi and you thus get to the asphalt road underneath the second church – over here you can wait for the taxi.  

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